Folding leg support assembly for a hunter&#39;s treestand

ABSTRACT

A folding leg support assembly for a hunter&#39;s treestand is disclosed. The assembly includes a bracket adapted for mounting to a platform and a leg support connected to the bracket. The leg support is movable about the bracket between an open deployed position and a folded stowed position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present patent document claims the benefit of the filing date ofearlier filed U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/149,198,filed on Feb. 2, 2009 and is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/251,011, filed on Oct. 14, 2008, which is anon-provisional of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/979,579, filed on Oct. 12, 2007, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to portable treestands used byhunters and more particularly to an improved leg support assembly thatmay be attached to treestands.

2. Background of the Related Art

Portable treestands for hunting have been used for many years. Suchtreestands are available in an extremely wide variety of types,providing a myriad of sizes, shapes, materials of construction, mountingmechanisms and other features. Generally speaking, treestands come infour main varieties: tripod stands, ladders stands, hang-on stands, andclimbing treestands. Tripod stands do not require a tree in order to beerected. U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,283, issued to Prejean, is an example of aprior art tripod stand. Ladder stands incorporate a ladder with aplatform attached to top end of the ladder. Ladder stands are leanedagainst a tree and secure with a straps and chains. U.S. Pat. Nos.3,630,314, issued to Bamburg, and 3,057,431, issued to George, areexamples of prior art ladder stands. Hang-on stands are platforms thatare strapped to the trunk a tree. Because hang-on stands do not includea ladder, the hunter must bring some other means to climb a tree toinstall the tree stand, such as tree spikes, for instance. U.S. Pat. No.3,065,821, issued to Hundley, Jr., is an example of a hang-on treestand. Lastly, climbing treestands are platforms configured to allow thehunter to install the treestand without the aid of a ladder by shimmyingup the tree using the treestand itself as a climbing aid. U.S. Pat. Nos.3,460,649, issued to Baker, and 3,485,320, issued to Jones, are examplesof prior art climbing treestands.

Because hunters may spend hours on end in a treestand, it is importantthat the hunter is comfortable. Many treestands include some sort ofseat on the treestand platform. However, many portable treestands lack aseat or have a tiny seat in order to make them as lightweight aspossible. Portable treestands that lack a seat are typically notintended to be sat on by a hunter. If the hunter sits on theseplatforms, however, the hunter's lower legs and feet dangle. If thehunter's lower legs and feet are allowed to dangle, however, thehunter's circulation to his feet becomes impaired because of thepressure exerted behind the knees of the hunter's legs by the mereweight of his lower legs and feet and boots restricts blood flow. Thiscan result in the hunter's lower legs and feet “falling asleep” andbecoming cold. Consequently, the hunter can become fatigued and riskssuccumbing to the effects of exposure. Accordingly, it is desirable toprovide some structure to support the hunter's feet and prevent loss ofcirculation to the hunter's lower legs and feet, yet is lightweight forportable treestands.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The folding leg support assembly for a treestand described herein solvesthe problems of the prior art by providing an assembly to preventfatigue and reduce restriction of blood circulation to the hunter's legsand feet, which enables the treestand platform to be comfortably used asa seat by the hunter. The folding leg support assembly also includes theadded advantage of aiding the hunter to climb into the teestand byproviding a handle and step (when the leg support is folded down) thatthe hunter can grab and step on as he ascends. The folding leg supportincludes a pair of mounting plates that permit the leg support to becoupled to a variety of platforms to permit the assembly to be attachedto treestands that lack leg supports.

Specifically, the assembly includes a bracket adapted for mounting to aplatform and a leg support connected to the bracket. The leg support ismovable about the bracket between an open deployed position and a foldedstowed position. The assembly may further include a mechanism to lockthe leg support in it open and stowed positions, respectively.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the treestand willbecome better understood with reference to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows a top view of an embodiment of the folding leg support ofthe present invention'

FIG. 2 shows a top view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 coupled to anexemplary treestand platform;

FIG. 3 shows a left side view of an embodiment of the treestand platformof the present invention, it being understood the right side view is themirror image thereof;

FIG. 4A shows a top view of a left side support bracket and top mountingplate of the folding leg support of the present invention, it beingunderstood that the right dies support bracket is the mirror imagethereof;

FIG. 4B shows a front view of the left side support bracket, topmounting plate and bottom mounting plate;

FIG. 4B shows a left side view of the left side support bracket, topmounting plate and bottom mounting plate;

FIG. 5A shows a perspective view of the entire right side bracketassembly couple to an end of the leg support; and

FIG. 5B shows a cross-section view through line 5B-5B of FIG. 5A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, the folding leg support assembly of the presentinvention is shown generally at 10. The folding leg support assembly 10includes a leg support 12 pivotally coupled to a left support bracket 14a and a right support bracket 14 b (collectively 14). Each supportbracket 14 further includes a mounting plate assembly 16 including a topplate 18, bottom plate 20 and a number of bolts 22 connecting the topplate 18 to the bottom plate 20. Each of these assemblies 16 will bedescribed in greater detail below. As shown in FIG. 2, the folding legsupport assembly 10 is configured and arranged to be coupled to atreestand platform 24.

Referring back to FIG. 1 now, the folding leg support assembly 10includes a foot portion 26 and arm portions 28 extending from each endof the foot portion 26. The foot portion 26 may include grip tape on toenhance the surface traction of the foot portion 26 and prevent thehunter from slipping. Referring to FIG. 3, the folding leg support 10may include rubber bumpers 30 to prevent rattling of the leg support 12against the platform 24 while the leg support 12 if folded closed.

Each arm portion 28 is secured to its own support bracket 14 by ashoulder screw 32 secured by an acorn lock nut 34. Near the end of eachsupport arm 28 of the leg support 12 are spring-biased ball plungers 35,which are used to selectively lock the leg support 12 in its open ofclosed position as desired.

Referring now to FIGS. 4A-C, each support bracket 14 includes a bodyportion 36 having a downwardly depending hook 38. A rubber bumper 40 maybe coupled to the hook 38 to prevent rattling of the leg support 12against the platform 24 while the leg support 12 is deployed to the openposition. Extending upwardly from the body portion 36 is a pair ofspaced-apart support structures 42 configured to receive the free endsof a support arm therebetween, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B.

Each support structure 42 includes an aperture 44 for receiving theshoulder screw 32 to retain the support arm 28 to the bracket 14. Alsoincluded is a pair of additional apertures 46, 48 that are radiallyspace-apart about the shoulder screw-receiving aperture 44 and are sizedto receive the spring-biased ball plunger 35. One aperture 46 ispositioned to receive the spring-biased ball plunger 35 while the legsupport 12 is in the deployed position, and the other aperture 48 ispositioned to receive the ball plunger 35 while the leg support 12 isstowed upwardly against the top surface of the treestand platform 24.

Each support bracket 14 is connected to a mounting assembly 16. Inparticular the bottom surface of the support bracket 14 is welded to atop plate 18. The top plate 18 includes a plurality if slots and holesformed therethrough. The mounting assembly 16 further includes a bottomplate 20 that also includes a number of apertures and slots formedtherethrough that correspond to the same slots and holes formed in thetop plate 18. A number of bolts 22 and acorn nuts 50 couple the bottomplate 20 to the top plate 18.

To attach the folding leg support assembly 10 of the present inventionto a treestand platform 24, a hunter follows a few simple steps. First,the hunter disconnects the bolts 22 and acorn nuts 50 retaining the topand bottom plates 18, 20 together. The hunter then places the top plate18 over the top surface and near the front edge of the treestandplatform 24 and the bottom plate 20 on the bottom surface and front edgeof the treestand platform and carefully aligns the holes and slots inboth plates 18, 20. If necessary, the hunter may have to drill holesthrough the platform 24. However, this is often not necessary becausemany prior art platforms already include holes therethrough already. Thehunter then replaces the bolts 22 and nuts 50 through suitable unblockedholes or slots in the top and bottom plates 18, 20 and, therefore, alsothrough the platform 24, and tightens the acorn nuts 50 to secure themounting plate assembly 16 to the platform 24.

Because the mounting plate assemblies 16 are near the front edge of theplatform 24, the folding leg support 12 may be deployed downwardly.

Therefore, it can be seen that the folding leg support assembly 10provides a unique solution to the problems of the prior art by providinga folding leg support assembly 10 that may be easily connected to avariety of treestand platforms 24 without extensive retrofit thereto.When used, the folding leg support assembly 10 of the present inventionwill prevent a hunter from becoming fatigued to the hunter's lowerextremities through reduced circulation caused by sitting on theplatform 24.

It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changesand modifications can be made to the illustrated embodiments withoutdeparting from the spirit of the present invention. All suchmodifications and changes are intended to be within the scope of thepresent invention except insofar as limited by the appended claims.

1. A folding leg support assembly for a hunter's treestand, comprising:a bracket adapted for mounting to a platform of a hunter's treestand;and a leg support connected to the bracket; the leg support movableabout the bracket between an open deployed position and a folded stowedposition.
 2. The folding leg support assembly of claim 1, wherein thebracket further comprises a top plate and a bottom plate fastened to thetop plate.
 3. The folding leg support assembly of claim 2, wherein thetop plate is fastened to the bottom plate with at least one bolt.
 4. Thefolding leg support assembly of claim 1, further comprising a footportion having a non-slip surface.
 5. The folding leg support assemblyof claim 1, further comprising a locking mechanism configured andarranged to selectively lock the leg support in the deployed positionand the stowed position.
 6. The folding leg support assembly of claim 1,further comprising at least one bumper extending from the bracket andengaging the leg support when the leg support is in the deployedposition.
 7. The folding leg support assembly of claim 1, furthercomprising at least one bumper extending from the leg support andengaging the platform while the leg support is in the stowed position.8. A folding leg support assembly for a hunter's treestand, comprising:a bracket adapted for mounting to a platform of a hunter's treestand;and a leg support pivotally connected to the bracket; the leg supportpivotable about the bracket between an open deployed position and afolded stowed position.
 9. The folding leg support assembly of claim 8,wherein the bracket further comprises a top plate and a bottom platefastened to the top plate.
 10. The folding leg support assembly of claim9, wherein the top plate is fastened to the bottom plate with at leastone bolt.
 11. The folding leg support assembly of claim 8, furthercomprising a foot portion having a non-slip surface.
 12. The folding legsupport assembly of claim 8, further comprising a locking mechanismconfigured and arranged to selectively lock the leg support in thedeployed position and the stowed position.
 13. The folding leg supportassembly of claim 8, further comprising at least one bumper extendingfrom the bracket and engaging the leg support when the leg support is inthe deployed position.
 14. The folding leg support assembly of claim 8,further comprising at least one bumper extending from the leg supportand engaging the platform while the leg support is in the stowedposition.
 15. A folding leg support assembly for a hunter's treestand,comprising: a bracket; a top plate depending from the bracket; a bottomplate fastened to the top plate, the top plate and bottom plateconfigured and arranged to fasten about a platform of a hunter'streestand; and a leg support pivotally connected to the bracket; the legsupport pivotable about the bracket between an open deployed positionand a folded stowed position.
 16. The folding leg support assembly ofclaim 15, wherein the top plate is fastened to the bottom plate with atleast one bolt.
 17. The folding leg support assembly of claim 15,further comprising a foot portion having a non-slip surface.
 18. Thefolding leg support assembly of claim 15, further comprising a lockingmechanism configured and arranged to selectively lock the leg support inthe deployed position and the stowed position.
 19. The folding legsupport assembly of claim 15, wherein the top plate and bottom platefurther comprise a plurality of complimentary slots and apertures formedtherethrough.